This blog on Texas education contains posts on accountability, testing, college readiness, dropouts, bilingual education, immigration, school finance, race, class, and gender issues with additional focus at the national level.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Students need less high-stakes testing, business groups say

Some of the strongest advocates for high-stakes testing, Texas
business leaders now want to cut the number of exams students must pass
to finish high school, the latest attempt to ease tougher graduation
requirements that went into effect last year.

The number of high-stakes tests would fall from 15 to as few as six
under the business groups' plan, and school districts would not have to
count the exam scores as part of students' course grades.

His comments echo concerns that educators and parents have been
taking to state lawmakers in recent months. Scores on the first round of
tests last spring showed thousands of students were below grade level
and were at risk of not graduating.

The business groups' plan likely will serve as a conversation starter
for state lawmakers when they reconvene in January. Education
Commissioner Michael Williams, at the urging at Gov. Rick Perry, already has suspended the law requiring exam scores to count in students' grades.

Texas law now requires high school students to earn a cumulative
passing score on 11 to 15 end-of-course exams in reading, writing, math,
science and social studies. The state's testing requirements are among
the strictest, if not the strictest, in the nation, according to the Education Commission of the States, a Denver nonprofit that tracks policies.

"I understand that kids have to be evaluated; however, the many
high-stakes tests that our children have to take, it's a little bit
overwhelming," said Vincent Sanders, a member of the advocacy group Community Voices for Public Education who has two children in Houston schools.

The business groups want to eliminate the world history and world
geography exams and require students to pass no more than 10 exams to
graduate. In some cases, students would have to pass as few as six.

"Some can view it (as a retreat), but I think it's a modification
that gets us where we need to be," Hammond said, adding that the plan
still holds schools accountable for graduating students ready for
post-secondary education. Hammond was joined by leaders of the Texas Institute for Education Reform and the Texas Business Leadership Council at a news conference in Austin.

Texas' prior testing system mandated 10 exams in high school but students had to pass only four to graduate. H.D. Chambers, superintendent of the Alief district, said he would like to see the high-stakes exams reduced to between three and five.

"I'm glad they're moving closer to what the public education
community feels is reasonable and meaningful for students," Chambers
said, "but I don't believe we're there yet."

Houston's superintendent, Terry Grier, said he agreed with cutting the number of mandatory state tests but said he fears Texas may lower the standards too much.

"Maybe we've taken three or four steps too far in testing, but it doesn't mean we need to stop testing," said Grier.

The business groups also proposed creating different diploma options,
which would allow students to get "endorsements" in areas such as fine
arts, science and industry. Some options would require less testing.
Grier said he worried some students would be pushed unfairly toward the
easier diploma.

"The bigotry of low expectations bothers me," Grier said. "What
children are we going to end up having a vocational diploma, and who's
going to decide that?"